Unemployment Rate Hits Lowest Level In 15 Years

Unemployment rates are dropping across all Wisconsin counties and major cities. Numbers released by the state Department of Workforce Development on Wednesday show the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is at its lowest level in 15 years.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is at 4.1 percent.

Jeff Sachse, a senior economist with the department, said the labor market has more jobs in the state than workers to fill them. The biggest difference he cites between the labor market now and several years ago is the number of baby boomers entering retirement.

“We have more people turning 65 every year,” he said. “As those older workers begin to exit out of the workforce … the obvious assumption is that those older workers will be replaced by younger workers. But, we know again for a number of reasons at least currently do not have as many younger workers that are either of an age that they can work or actively engaged in the labor market that can replace all of those retiring workers.”

Sachse said that’s good news for job seekers, but it may be a concern for companies looking to hire as sectors compete more for qualified workers.

“What we are seeing now is that companies are responding to the challenge of finding the right candidates or finding enough candidates by rewarding them financially for that, which is again another great thing for the economy,” he said.

The state added around 36,000 jobs from the same time last year with most of the growth being seen in the private sector.

At the local level, Menominee County had the highest unadjusted unemployment rate in the state last month at 6.6 percent. But, Sachse noted that’s two percent lower than August.

“When you look at the populations of some of our smaller counties … you can see a wildly fluctuating unemployment rate based on relatively small changes in the labor force,” he said.

The county’s change in unemployment is due to 36 additional workers entering the labor force. Dane, Lafayette, Iowa and Green counties had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.6 percent.